An angry Alan Pardew has countered claims from Loïc Rémy that he agreed to rest the France striker for Newcastle United’s final game of the Premier League season, a defeat at Liverpool, as it was “a meaningless” fixture.

In reality Liverpool still had a chance of pipping Manchester City to the title and Pardew – who following a series of disappointing results and with his job apparently in jeopardy was desperate for a victory – is adamant he picked his strongest available side.

“Following media reports today concerning my player selection for our final game of the season against Liverpool any suggestion that I colluded and agreed with our loan striker, Loïc Rémy, that he did not have to play in this game are wholly untrue,” said Newcastle’s manager in a club statement.

“To suggest that I considered there to be nothing riding on that game is also completely false. Our final league position was at stake, as was the race for the Premier League title for our opponents, Liverpool. What is more, each and every one of us associated with the club was desperate to get a result for our supporters, especially those 2,800 travelling fans who made the journey to Anfield that day.

“The reality was that Loïc had sustained an ankle injury in our game against Cardiff the previous week. The results of an MRI scan conducted after that fixture revealed ligament damage and swelling around the joint.

“It was a result of this injury, and the fact that Loïc was unable therefore to complete any training session during the week leading up to the Liverpool game, that meant he was not fit for selection. Had Loïc been fit then clearly, without question, he would have been selected to play in what was a crucial game like every other.”

Rémy, who spent last season on loan at Newcastle from QPR, is now interesting, among others, Arsenal and Chelsea but Pardew and his staff were not impressed by the attitude of an undeniably gifted goal-scorer towards the end of last season. Indeed, after receiving treatment for a calf injury in Paris during the spring, Rémy seemed to take an inordinate amount of time to return to first-team action, prompting suspicions he was saving himself for the World Cup.